Galleries

Mysore is a city of two million in southern India. Two million is considered a moderate size city in India. The Mysore Palace is the second most visited building in India after the Taj Mahal, and for good reason as these photos will show. The 27th Maharaja of Mysore still occupies half of the palace with his family. The Indian government occupies 20 percent, which it uses for official meetings and as a reception area for honored guests. And the remaining 30 percent is open for public tours, from which the photos below are taken.

Ha Long Bay Vietnam is a unique location, famous for its thousands of scenic islands in the bay.  Our tour took us to a magnificent cave inside one of the islands.  The photos from this area will tell the story better than my words.

I became a musician because when I was young, I loved listening to music and was drawn to learn how to make music myself. Fast forward half a century, and my music has led me, together with my wife Susan and our creation . . .

Mount Fuji was an impressive site as our ship approached the Shimizu harbor.  Mount Fuji is Japan's highest mountain, an active volcano in a perfect conical form.

Ayutthaya lies about a two hour's drive north of Bangkok.  It was Thailand's capital for approximately four hundred years, founded in 1351.  It was burned by Burmese invaders in 1767, which resulted in its abandonment and the establishment of Bangkok which remains Thailand's current capital.  

Below is one of the oldest Stupas, built in the 14th century, in the same era as the construction of Cambodia's Angkor Wat, the world's largest UNESCO world heritage site.  Stupas are Buddhist cylindrical structures containing the ashes, bones, or remains of religious figures, and are intended to function as pilgrimage sites for worship and meditation.

Four days after arriving in India, we took a quick three-day trip to Nepal.  The purpose was to meet two Nepali friends.  While there we made a new friend, someone I perceived to be a brother that I was meeting for the first time.

Welcome to Israel Arriving in Israel less than a week ago for a short visit on the way to the conference in Jordan, their first question was: “What the _______ (insert appropriate word of your choice) is going on in the US?” To which we replied, “What the ______ is going on in Israel?” It’s complicated. I hardly know where to start. But we have to start somewhere, to bring attention to what’s going on in these turbulent times...

After a long transit from Reno via Los Angeles to Tokyo, we boarded the Viking Orion and enjoyed our first excursion in Japan.